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Thus it is not merely true, as frequently noted, that 90 percent of all the scientists whoever lived are now alive, and that new scientific discoveries are being made every day. These new ideas are put to work much more quickly than ever before. The time between the first and second stages of the cycle — between idea and application — has been radically reduced. This is a striking difference between ourselves and our ancestors. It is not that weare more eager or less lazy than our ancestors, but we have, with the passage of time, invented all sorts of social device to hasten the process.
因此，正如人們常常提到的，一個(gè)千真萬確的情況是，從古到今的科學(xué)家中有90%的人活在今天的世界上，新的科學(xué)發(fā)現(xiàn)現(xiàn)在天天都有。這些新的思想現(xiàn)在比以往任何時(shí)候都得到更快的應(yīng)用。這一循環(huán)過程的第一和第二階段之間—即想法和應(yīng)用之間—的時(shí)間已大大縮短。這一點(diǎn)是我們和我們祖先之間的一個(gè)引人注目的差別。這不是說我們比祖先更急于求成或較少懶惰，而是由于時(shí)間的推移，我們已經(jīng)發(fā)明了各種社會(huì)手段來加速這一進(jìn)程。
But if it takes less time to bring a new idea to the marketplace, it also takes less time for it to sweep through the society. For example, the refrigerator was introduced in the United States before 1920, yet its peak production did not come until more than thirty years later. However, by 1950 — in only a few years — television had grown from a laboratory novelty to the biggest part of show business. So the interval between the second and third stages of the cycle — between application and diffusion — has likewise been cut, and the pace of diffusion is rising with astonishing speed
但是如果說，將新思想投入市場應(yīng)用的時(shí)間縮短了的話，那么，它在全社會(huì)推廣的時(shí)間也縮短了。舉例說吧，在美國，電冰箱在1920年前就開始使用了，但是直到30多年之后，它的生產(chǎn)才達(dá)到高峰。然而到1950年的時(shí)候—只經(jīng)過幾年時(shí)間—電視已從實(shí)驗(yàn)室的一件新玩意兒發(fā)展成娛樂業(yè)的最大的組成部分了。所以這一循環(huán)過程的第二和第三階段之間—即應(yīng)用和推廣之間—的間隔也同樣縮短了，而推廣的進(jìn)程正以驚人的速度加快進(jìn)行。
The stepped-up pace of invention, application and diffusion, in turn, accelerates the whole cycle still further. For new machines or techniques are not merely a product, but a source, of fresh creative ideas.
發(fā)明、應(yīng)用、推廣的加速反過來又更進(jìn)一步加速了整個(gè)循環(huán)過程。因?yàn)樾碌臋C(jī)器、新的技術(shù)不僅是一種新的創(chuàng)造性思維的產(chǎn)物，而且是新的創(chuàng)造性思想的源泉。
